Roto Riteup: June 19, 2026

by
June 19, 2026

Papa Clemens would never have been able to do this!

On the Agenda: 

  1. Closer Chaos
  2. Quick Hits
  3. Various News and Notes
  4. Streaming Pitchers

Closer Chaos

Thankfully for fantasy managers, the chaos has been minimal over the past few weeks.

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Aroldis Chapman suffered his second loss of the season on Thursday, serving up the go-ahead double to Blue Jays backup catcher, Brandon Valenzuela. Sonny Gray isn’t happy with his club:

Jays closer Louis Varland wasn’t available, so Mason Fluharty handled the ninth inning for his first career save.

Seattle’s Andrés Muñoz earned his second save this week after an injury scare this weekend. Muñoz was pulled from last Sunday’s contest due to lower-back tightness.

Mets closer Devin Williams got into some trouble during his save chance on Thursday, though he allowed one run as his squad won 6-4 against the Phillies. Williams is locked in as the closer, but sports a troubling 5.18 ERA.

Yankees setup man Camilo Doval stepped into the eighth inning of a 1-1 game with the bases loaded and let White Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi crank this pinch-hit grand slam, his ninth home run of the season:

Quick Hits

Future Hall of Fame outfielder Juan Soto mashed two taters on Thursday:

Twins infielder Brooks Lee hit his 12th home run of the season:

Lee is four homers away from tying his career mark of 16 from last season.

His teammate Royce Lewis earned the Golden Sombrero, with four strikeouts over five plate appearances.

Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter isn’t having the big follow-up to his breakout 2025 season that many fantasy managers were expecting. Leiter owns a 5.28 ERA after coughing up six runs to the Twins. He has allowed 4+ ER in five of his last six starts. The only reason some might hold onto him another week is because he is expected to draw two starts next week (at MIA, at TOR), but it might be best to cut bait at this point.

David Fry, Kyle Manzardo and rookie Travis Bazzana all homered for the Guardians to lift them to a 4-2 victory over the Brewers. Parker Messick struck out nine over six innings, reducing his ERA to 2.70 and taking his record to 7-3. Cade Smith earned his league-leading 24th save. No other pitcher in baseball has more than 19.

Various News and Notes

Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor will begin a rehab assignment on Friday and could return the lineup sometime next week.

Adley Rutschman was hit in the head by a throw in Thursday’s contest against the Mariners and will likely enter concussion protocol. His status should be updated on Friday.

Bobby Witt Jr. left Thursday’s game against the Cardinals with a right knee injury. He tweaked it while trying to make a sliding stop on defense. We should know about the severity of it on Friday before weekend lineups lock.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. left his game as well, though with a groin injury. I really do hope he was wearing a cup.

Mike Trout was placed on the 10-day IL with a right hamstring injury. Hopefully, it won’t be much longer of a stay than the minimum. Trout is batting .234 with 17 homers, a career-best 20.9% barrel rate and his highest walk rate (19.7%) since 2018. Christian Moore was called up from Triple-A Salt Lake.

Phillies outfielder Adolis García will have season-ending surgery to repair a torn lat. He slashed a putrid .195/.270/.329 in 67 games. The Phillies current outfield is: soon-to-be All Star Brandon Marsh, rookies Justin Crawford and Gabriel Rincones Jr., and veteran short-side platoon hitter, Derek Hill.

Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% in Yahoo)

Pitchers for Today: Randy Vásquez, SD (33%) at TEX

Vásquez should be able to handle the Seager-less Rangers, though whether the Padres will provide some run support is another story.

Other Options: Griffin Jax, TB (31%) vs WSH

Jax rocks a 2.57 ERA since joining the Rays rotation in late April and that includes a six-run implosion against the Tigers on June 1. He has yet to surpass five innings and faces a juggernaut Nats’ offense, which is why he’s a conditional streamer, not a primary.

Pitchers for Tomorrow: Troy Melton, DET (23%) vs CWS

Melton was scratched from his start earlier this week due to back tightness, but appears healthy and ready to go for those home start. I’m predicting one earned run with six strikeouts over six innings and the win.

Other Options: Walker Buehler, SD (20%) at TEX

Not super confident in this choice, but the Rangers are an offense to pick on lately. Buehler has only allowed five runs over his last four starts and maintains a reasonable 7.7% walk rate and 20.2% strikeout rate this season.





 

Vlad writes for RotoGraphs and is the head of fantasy baseball content at FTN Fantasy. He is a Tout Wars Expert League champ, member of the CDM Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame and has been nominated for FSWA writing awards six times. Vlad has been playing fantasy baseball since 1995, winning 42 NFBC leagues since 2012 and ranking in the top percentile in NFBC’s Online Championship contest (33% win rate, 52% cash rate; 64 leagues). Much to the chagrin of his colleagues and most baseball aficionados, Vlad is a lifelong Dodgers fan who claims his first gut call at age 9 was Kirk Gibson’s 1988 World Series home run. You can follow him on X and BlueSky @RotoGut.

2 Comments
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Matthew ChomanMember since 2025
1 month ago

Is there hope Melton will start racking up K’s??

0
Vlad SedlerFanGraphs Staff
1 month ago
Reply to  Matthew Choman

I think so. He’s been an above-average SwStr guy in the minors.

0